EVEN without being told, the compassionate responds to the unspoken cries of the Marawi evacuees for help. This I have witnessed over and over as I have been fortunate to be part of an international humanitarian mission where hundreds joined from among peace advocates both locally and internationally.
And so there, for the second time, I took part in these seemingly endless efforts of people from all walks of life who took time out from whatever it is that has been keeping them busy in their normal lives.
Several times I asked myself why there seems to be a spontaneous giving of the self among these humanitarian responders? On the ground, these volunteers just make themselves useful in whatever manner.
The recently launched 3rd wave of the International Interfaith Humanitarian Mission culminated in the busy streets of Iligan City, where participants vented out some of their frustrations and concerns for the displaced residents of Marawi City where thousands are still cramped in different evacuation sites.
The questions in the humanitarian volunteers’ mind continues to befuddle them on the continuing suffering of the Marawi populace, especially those who have not been reached by government assistance such as the ‘home-based’ evacuees who were forced to seek shelter among residents in far flung communities.
Looking at the women, children and men among these evacuees who continue to hope to return to their abode in Marawi City, it seems that they are getting a different signal from the way they felt neglected by government in the trickle of assistance they are getting.
Their eyes speak out loud what their tightly pressed lips hesitate to say. The women’s furrowed brows express their anxiety over what to expect in the next few days after this humanitarian mission’s food packs, which could only last them for barely a day or two.
Certainly we can hear the unspoken needs in their hearts, as they continue to huddle themselves in cramped situations like the ones in Bara-as home-based evacuation site, where over a hundred ‘bakwits’ can be found trying to survive each day.
Compassion responds at the sight of these sub-human conditions, and yet other emotions interplay among the volunteers in the mission. What is most glaring about this reality is that these are not seen and the people’s voices not heard in the MASS MEDIA, where commercials are given preferential treatment over service for the common good, and neither talked about in social media.
A kind of pain strikes at the heart of volunteers even if some of them have already seen these situations earlier, at this squalor, where these once dignified people are reduced to.
When will all these suffering end? For the humanitarian volunteers, it is just like going back over and over to a bad dream that needs to be overcome, but for the ‘bakwits’, it’s a nightmare that refuse to die every day of their wretched life.
One thing’s certain though: the flicker of human hope will never be extinguished even if it seems like the ‘evil’ forces are upon the ‘bakwits’ and all of humanity. The human spirit will continue to flourish, as evident in the last international humanitarian where several people from all walks of life came and extend their solidarity with the marginalized and oppressed.
No matter what the hecklers and paid hacks of the established ‘order’ do to put down a people that had been for centuries suffering from HISTORICAL INJUSTICES, human compassion will always continue to make those responsible be held accountable, especially those among the national leadership who caused these injustices.
Because “whatever you sow, you reap”, and it is only a matter of time when all these abuses against a dignified people will come to an end.